The Twelve Days of Christmas
by A Reviewing Reader
Summary: The holiday season is a time of giving and love, its frigid weather uniting us all in front of a fireplace or under the mistletoe. It is the perfect time for old flames to spark, and new loves to begin. It is when, even in the worst situation, there is always hope to shine a light through the darkness of uncertainty and fear. It is the greatest time of the year.
1. A Partridge In A Pear Tree

My Christmas Fanfiction! There shall be twelve chapters! (: Worst time to start, I know, but it had to be done!

First one is Fabina, in Nina's POV. Enjoy!

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"Oh,_ jingle bells, jingle bells . . . Jingle all the way! Oh, what fun it is to ride on a one-horse open sleigh-"_

_". . . Don we now our gay apparel, fa la la, la la la, la la la. Troll the ancient Yule tide carol . . ."_

"Why is it 'troll the ancient Yule tide carol'? Why use 'troll'?" Patricia asked, switching the radio off and leaving us in an awkward silence.

"Hey," NIna objected. "I wanted to hear the rest of that!" She leaned forward, switching the knob on once more and turned the music on. Once more, the car was full of Christmas carols. "And I don't know why they say that - it's an old song!"

_"On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree . . ."_

"Nina, I'm trying to drive," Patricia said, laughing.

With a sigh, Nina changed the station to a sports-related one. "Happy now?" she said, a grin crossing her face.

"Even worse," Patricia replied.

Then, Nina ended up turning off the radio, once again leaving only the heater to warm the two girl's faces. Only a few more moments passed before they stopped in front of Nina's apartment complex, the brick-red building starkly contrasting to the bare trees and white blanket of snow around the area.

"Thanks," she said. She opened the passenger door, letting in the frigid air of the winter afternoon into the toasty car that reminded Nina of sitting beside a comfortable fireplace. Letting out a short breath of air, an icy white cloud appeared before her but soon quickly faded.

"Talk to you later, Nins!" Patricia called. Nina closed the door behind her. She waved goodbye as her friend drove away.

Once the blue sedan had turned the corner a block away, Nina dropped her arm, only to pull them close to her body in an effort to keep away the cold. The last carol she had listened to echoed through her mind, and she could not help but wonder what a pear tree looked like.

She had seen a partridge before: when she was only twelve, her Uncle Lenny had shown her one when she had come over to his house for a weekend during winter break. However, it was not sitting in a pear tree, so Nina was not completely satisfied with the image.

Suddenly, Nina heard a loud thudding sound behind her, and she swiveled around in surprise. A few pears rolled to her feet, so Nina bent down to pick one up. She tilted her head at it for a second, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Raising her eyes from the smooth green skin of the Bartlett pear, she took in the scene in front of her with a stunned silence.

Her best friend, Fabian Rutter, was crouching down to grab all of the scattered pears on the snowy cement sidewalk. Next to him, there was a small green tree in a square, emerald green pot with pears hanging by strings. A _legitimate_ pear tree.

"F-Fabian," Nina said, barely containing her laughter. "What is this?"

"Uh, um . . ." Fabian stammered. "W-Well, it's a p-pear t-tree . . ."

Nina smiled at his stuttering words, shaking her head at his attempt to create a pear tree. She gathered up the pears, stuffing them into her bag because they lived right across from each other, so she could give them to him after they had climbed the stairs.

Finally, they had finished collecting the pears, and, before Fabian could say anything, Nina wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Only a second of hesitation passed before Fabian circled his arms around her waist, returning the embrace. Nina could not believe he would do all of this for his girlfriend, Joy, who was also one of Nina's closest friends. It was so sweet.

However, it also slightly hurt her, a crack beginning to web across the surface of the wall around her heart. She was determined to keep her feelings for him a secret; Joy had seen and known him first, after all. She had no right to intrude upon their relationship.

"She'll love it," Nina insisted into his ear. She swore she felt him shake his head at her, and she wondered, for a fleeting moment, why he did that. But all of her thoughts were pushed away as she just nestled her head into the curve of his shoulder, wishing with all of her heart that he would be hers someday.

She lifted her eyes from the fabric of Fabian's winter coat, past the strands of almost chestnut brown hair waving in her line of vision, blown ever so slightly by the frosty wind that now seemed to circle around them. Then, her eyes focused on the "pear" tree sitting beside them.

A tiny bird, looking like a mix between a finch and a sparrow, with brown feathers and skinny, red legs. Nina recognized the little creature almost instantly, and she pulled away from Fabian, her eyes still trained on the "pear" tree where the bird was perched.

"Is that a partridge in a pear tree?

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Yeah, they are less of small chapters and more like drabbles, I suppose... Anyway! Please review this because it would mean a lot to me! Then again, I suck at updating and almost always post crappy chapters WHEN I update... Um, well, I hope you at least read this and like it. But, if you feel like it, could you review it? You don't have to, obviously, but, yeah...

Anyway. I PROMISE that I will update this tomorrow (or I guess, today, since it is already 12:20AM, my time.)

~Ary


	2. Two Turtle Doves

So, um, this is my attempt at Jara... It probably failed, but I thought I should right something other than Fabina in this story which will probably be a lot of Fabina fluff (because that seems to be the only thing I am somewhat decent at writing...) Anyway. This is the continuation of what happened last chapter, where Nina was weird and hugged Fabian, the holder of the pear tree, for no apparent reason. This is in Mara's POV, the day after my failed attempt at foreshadowing Fabina.

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". . . on the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me: two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree . . ."

I turned down the radio when my phone rang, a picture of my friend Nina flashing across the screen.

"Hey, Nina."

"Mara, I, um, I . . ." She explained to me what had happened the day before, and my jaw dropped in shock.

"You did _what_?" I exclaimed.

I wondered if she rolled her eyes at the amusement in my voice; I would not be surprised if she had, though it is usually Patricia who acts like that rather than Nina. I laid down on my bed, put my sock-clad feet on the amethyst purple duvet and stared up at my starkly white ceiling. I never noticed that there was the outline of a misshapen heart in the corner of the room.

"I don't know why!" she cried, exasperated. "I don't even know why I did it! It just _happened_!"

I sighed. It was usually Amber with these sort of boy problems; it was a bit strange that Nina, of all people, was dealing with these annoying problems. I said, "Nina, the sunrise 'just happens' every day. This was all on you."

"Thanks for the support, Mars," she replies blankly.

"Well, what do you want me to say? He should just break up with Joy to be with you because you found him with a pear tree? What logic is that?"

Nina groaned. "I feel so stupid for doing that. I mean, what if I ruined our friendship?"

I laughed out loud. "Nins, you're not going to ruin your friendship. It was just a hug, for goodness sake. Friends can hug friends. Don't overreact."

"Yeah, I know, but . . . What if Joy finds out?"

"Nina," I say.

"Yeah. I know I'm stretching it." Another sigh from her. "Thanks, Mara."

"You're welcome." Two beeps sounded in my ear, and I pulled the phone from my ear to see another call waiting, a picture of my boyfriend, Jerome Clarke, smiling up at me as he awaited my answer. "Um, Nina? I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay, bye, Mara. Thanks again."

"Bye."

I switched calls, and my boyfriend began with a cheery, "Hello there."

Just his voice made me smile. Without even knowing what he was talking about, I just had to grin because he always seemed to talk to me with an air of lightness and joy, which then transferred to me whenever we talked, making even the worst of days became the best.

"Hey," I said.

"Can I come over? I have an early Christmas gift for you."

I shook my head at him wanting to give me an early gift, even though I knew he could not see it. "Sure. I may not look the best on such short notice, so I hope you don't mind."

I heard him laugh, the phone's crappy reception not distorting his beautiful, melodious laugh like it did to everyone else's. Just hearing his laugh put a spring in my step, a lightness to my heart. I wanted to hear his laugh over and over again; it was that great.

"Mara, you always look beautiful, no matter what you wear."

I blushed. "Be quiet."

"Never."

"Jerome!"

"Mara."

I rolled my eyes because I knew I would not win this argument, no matter how hard I fought back. "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?"

"Nope."

"Fine."

"I'll see you in ten minutes."

"Okay." I hesitated for a moment before hanging up. The words were on the tip of my tongue; I only needed to move my lips and activate my vocal chords to hear those momentous words spoken. I mouthed them, but no sound came out.

"Bye, Mara."

I flushed with embarrassment at my inability to say it. "Bye," I managed to get out before I heard the dial tone in my ear.

I ended the call. Dropping the phone to my side, I ran my hands through my hair as I closed my eyes, shaking my head at myself. Why could I not just say it? Every couple goes through this phase at one point or another . . .

If they last that long, a part of my mind whispered, souring my cheerful mood. Maybe it was a sign that Jerome and I were not going to last if I could not even say those ground-breaking words . . .?

Stop it, I told myself. Don't turn into Nina and Amber and begin freaking out about boys and relationships.

I tried to push my thoughts away as I sat up on my bed, but there was still a tiny gnawing at the back of my mind, the constant doubt and fear that always seemed to harbor somewhere inside of me. I hated it; I hated that I had those stupid emotions. I wished I could just be carefree, especially in relationships.

"Just calm down, Mara," I said to myself.

I moved into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water onto my face. My mind cleared, and I stared at myself in the mirror. A dark-skinned girl, with curly brown hair now pulled into a ponytail, and deep brown eyes staring back at me.

Before I could comment on myself, a doorbell sounded from downstairs, jolting me from my thoughts. I turn towards the sound, once again hesitating before I moved.

I ran down the stairs, only increasing my speed when the bell rang again. I opened the door, which revealed my handsome boyfriend standing there with snow frosting his blonde hair.

"Jerome," I said. I mentally smacked myself for not even giving him a simple hello, to just say his name sounded like I was angry at him.

He smiled that lovely half-smile, telling me that he was amused with my greeting. "Mara," he said.

"Come in," I told him, feeling stupid for making him standing outside for more than a minute.

"I'd love to," he replied casually.

Once he was inside, within the warmth of the house, I closed the door behind him, blocking out the frigidity of the winter outside. He faced me, a grin on his face that confused me.

"So you know how Fabian is planning that huge project for Nina for Christmas?"

"Wait, what?"

"He didn't tell you." He chuckles to himself. "Of course not. You and Nina do talk quite a lot," he mused. "Anyway, look at this." He pulled out a crystal ornament: a pair of birds in frosted crystal, a red heart in the middle of them.

"What is- That's beautiful," I breathed.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered.

"Bu- Doesn't Fabian need this for Nina?" I wondered.

"I think he can do without it," Jerome said with a smirk. He pulled my face to his for a kiss, but I stopped him, wanting to get the words out of my mouth.

"Jerome-" I began.

"Are we really going to do this again?" he asked wryly.

I had to laugh but tried to be serious. "No, really! I-I wanted to tell you something."

His face became solemn as he stopped to listen to me. I paused before I did anything, and he said to me, softly, "Yes?"

"I love you," I blurted out. As soon as I said it, I wanted to smack myself in the face for being so unromantic about it.

Suddenly, his face brightening to a light resembling the sun. He circled his arms around my waist, pulling me towards him and bowed his head down to mine. Our foreheads touched, and I saw this his eyes were bright licks of blue flame that danced with mirth and jubilance.

Just before capturing my lips with his own, his voice barely a whisper, the words he spoke made my heart leap with complete and utter joy, "I love you, too."

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Um, yeah. So that was bad... But I am determined to update every day (even if "every day" means at midnight), so I hope this isn't too awful for your eyes to read. ):

Okay, um, please review?

~Ary

PS: Thank you to Dante Alighieri1308, MiaAndOak, and Sibunaismylife for reviewing last chapter! It means a lot to me. :3


	3. Author's Note! ):

Oh, hey there...

Okay... So, I am a terrible person; I know. But because of school cramming in as much as possible in our last week, and my annoying need to sleep and eat and go to ballet, along with the fact that I can't work under pressure, apparently, so every chapter I've been turning out has been crap, I am going to be stopping this story... ):

I apologize to any of who enjoyed this story; you don't even know how angry I am at myself for not even getting past the third day...

To my four reviewers: thank you so much, I really appreciated all of your lovely reviews! And to everyone who favorited and followed this story, I'm so glad that you had enjoyed this piece of blah writing enough to tell me you liked it and that you actually want to hear when I would update it...

Again, thank you for everything!

~Ary

PS/Extra A/N: I may be writing a couple of one-shots after school's out: for Christmas, and possibly New Years, but, after that, and finishing my innumerable amount of unfinished stories, I will probably be taking a break from Fanfiction for a while. Mainly because of school and the fact that testing will be starting soon, and I really need to prepare for that, so I will be swamped until, probably, summer...

Anyway, you've all probably had enough of me rambling on and on, so I will bid you see you all in about a week or so!

Adieu, mes amis! (:

PPSS (or whatever that's supposed to be): My heart goes out to everyone affected by the Connecticut shooting. Thoughts are with you all. 3 (That's supposed to be a heart...)


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